Protest erupts as Dalit man lynched in Raj

JAIPUR: A Dalit man was allegedly beaten to death in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district, triggering protests by local residents and a political slugfest between the ruling Congress and the Opposition. Police said three people have been detained in connection with the case.

According to the police, the incident took place on October 7 in Prempura area of Hanumangarh where the accused thrashed Jagdish with sticks till he died, allegedly because of his relationship with a woman.

The culprits also shot a video of the entire incident, in which they are purportedly seen offering drinking water to the victim and then thrashing him repeatedly with sticks.

The accused later dumped Jagdish’s body outside his residence, police said.

Taking strong note of the incident, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat hit out at the Congress-led state government for keeping “silence” on the matter. “Rahul ji, don’t worry about Lakhimpur where Yogi ji has his governance and not your dear Gehlot ji. Show some courage to speak about the murder of dalit youth in Prempura of Rajasthan so that people get to know how truthful you are?” he said in a Twitter post in Hindi.

Meanwhile, Jagdish’s family has refused to accept his body, demanding early arrest of the accused. Later, SDM Ranjeet Kumar convinced them to cremate his body. “A case has been registered against 11 people. Mukesh, Om Prakash and Hansraj have been detained and two teams have been constituted to nab the remaining accused,” Pilibanga SHO Inder Kumar said.